Things To Do In Greenpoint
Parks & Farmers’ Markets
• McGolrick Park: Beautiful, European style city park full of tall London plane trees. Farmer’s market Sundays from 9a. • McCarren Park: Fun city park with a terrific Parkhouse that has a bar, grill, coffee shop, & ice cream shop. The park has tennis walls, a running track & outdoor gym, and a kettle of red-tailed hawks. Farmer’s market Saturdays from 8a. • WNYC Transmitter Park: Waterfront park that housed twin transmitter towers for the public radio station WNYC (acquired in 1935). Stunning views of Manhattan (especially at sunset). This is the site of our engagement! And our wedding venue will be right beside this smaller but excellent park. • Newtown Creek Nature Walk: Designed by George Trakas, this is an unconventional “green” space that repurposes the site of the 1978 oil spill.
Bird Walk with our Bird Club
Every Saturday at 9a, our local bird club meets at the Russell & Driggs corner of McGolrick Park for a guided bird club. We’ll likely skip on our wedding Saturday, but we promise you this is a fun, relaxing experience with super cool people who will reveal the woodpeckers and warblers of New York City. Check out the Club's write up in The Gothamist below:
Dog Halloween Parade & Costume Contest @ McGolrick Park Pavillion
Our local park is having their annual dog Halloween parade & contest on Saturday (noon - 4p)! Catch some 4-legged cuties before the wedding.
Coffee & Tea Shops
• Kettl: Excellent Japanese teas sourced directly from growers & producers and home of the matcha lattes we shared right before our engagement. They also have fun sweets like matcha soft serve and sobacha & hojicha cookies. Fun fact: Kettl is the only US-based Japanese tea company fully incorporated in Japan. • Charlotte Patisserie: Excellent French pastries & coffee – they make perfect baguettes available daily around 9 or so, and Steph loves their croissants • Upstate Stock: Describes itself as an “Industrial-chic outpost featuring espresso drinks & pastries, plus American-made home goods & gifts.” Good coffee and fun to walk through the store.
Polish Food
• Pierozek: The Michelin Guide's Only Polish Restaurant in America (Bib Gourmand), relatively quick sit-down restaurant that serves delicious pierogi on Polish tableware. • Karczma: Traditional Polish fare in a delightfully kitschy, dark wood farmhouse-inspired restaurant. • Syrena Bakery on Norman: Polish bakery serving a range of homemade breads & pastries. • Polka Dot: Deli serving quick & delicious homemade prepared foods.
Quick Bites
• Frankel’s Delicatessen and Appetizing: Jewish deli serving our favorite bagels in the city, period. Try the pastrami salmon. • Acre: Japanese café & shop using Japanese methods of fermentation and enzymology. Excellent bento boxes & hojicha lattes, and a cute selection of kitchen goods from Japan. • Taqueria Ramirez: We don’t eat meat anymore, but these CDMX style street tacos are consistently at the top of “best taco in the city” lists. • Taku Sando: Japanese craft sandwiches and homemade yuzu ginger ale. • Forma Pasta Factory: Quick fresh pasta restaurant that punches above its weight (and prices!).
Dine-in Restaurants
• Greenpoint Fish & Lobster: Our favorite restaurant in the city. Oysters & drinks happy hour 12-6 everyday. Rivals the best lobster rolls anywhere. • Little Dokebi: One of our first dates was here. Friendly staff, great music, immaculate vibes, and “traditional Korean dishes made from scratch, using organic, locally-sourced ingredients from the Hudson Valley.” • Three Decker Diner: Traditional diner operating since 1945. • Five Leaves: Cute Australian corner all-day café and restaurant. Excellent people watching, solid cocktails, known for its brunch (it’s a scene). • Bernie’s: Come experience Americana nostalgia at this iconic restaurant. • Di An Di: Excellent restaurant & bar specializing in modern Vietnamese fare. • Nura: Excellent restaurant serving global flavors and sharable plates. • Szechuan restaurants: Check out MáLà Project for fresh dry pot, Xi'an Famous Foods for hand pulled noodles, or Breeze for a Whole Fish w/ Spicy Bean Paste dish we’ve been meaning to try.
Japanese shops & restaurants
• Rule of Thirds: Creative Japanese food and cocktails – and the spot where we celebrated our engagement. • 50 Norman: Unique space designed with reclaimed woods from demolished old houses in Kyoto. This multi-complex includes Dashi Okume (a natural dashi broth shop est. in Tokyo in 1871 that serves an excellent bento box), Cibone (a gallery with rotating goods inc. kitchenware, apothecary, furniture, fashion, etc.), and HOUSE Brookyln (a new, hidden fancy Japanese/French restaurant) • Uzuki: Special occasion soba noodles.
Ice Cream
• Caffè Panna: THE best ice cream in the city (Mara has tried it all). Daily changing flavors produced in house – superb and unexpected flavor combinations that strike a good savory-sweet balance. • The Screen Door: Ice cream shop right by McGolrick Park serving classic ice cream treats. We highly recommend the “A Salt & Buttery” sundae. • Softside: Try the olive oil, honey, & sea salt sundae. • Davies Ice Cream: Try the Speculoos Chocolate Chip in a cookie sandwich with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies
Pizza
• L'Industrie Pizza: Everybody says this is the best pizza in the city and we agree. Try the burrata slice. (This is in Williamsburg – but easily walkable). • Upside: The perfect New York City slice shop with homemade mozzarella and sourdough crust. We love the Mushroom with white wine lemon cream sauce and the spicy vodka.
Bars
• TØRST: One of the best beer bars in the city. 21 taps & an extensive bottles list, full of rare, delicious, hard to get – and sometimes downright weird – beers. • Capri Social Club: Neighborhood institution, a dive with personality. Beer and shot joint that stays open roughly as long as they feel like it on any given night, with some of the cheapest drinks around. • Achilles Heel: Hip spot for creative drinks and bites. • Eavesdrop: Japanese-inspired listening bar. • Hidden Pearl: Speakeasy cocktail bar in the back of a local ramen shop. • Lise & Vito: Quirky natural wine bar.
Shops
• Yoseka Stationery: Taiwanese stationary store with a curated selection of notebooks, pens, pencils, & fountain pens. • Eastern District: Great local food stuff shop with a fun cheese selection. • Archestratus: Cookbook bookstore with a curated selection of tinned fish and grocery items. • Williamsburg: Talk a walk down Driggs Avenue & Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg – both are lined with cute and quirky shops and cafes. (We love McNally Jackson Books!)